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PHOENIX – As the winter of 2007 approached, Greg Burke considered giving up baseball as a profession.

“I had just finished a season at Single-A (Lake Elsinore) with a 5.23 ERA,” Burke said Wednesday.

“I really had no role. I was older than most of the other players at my level. You couldn't call me a prospect. And I had a degree from Duke (sociology with a minor in business).

“I was asking myself what am I doing here? I fully expected that the following spring the Padres were going to release me.”

Burke then made a decision that is now paying dividends for the Padres as well as the 26-year-old right-handed reliever.

“ 'No regrets' became my motto,” said Burke. “I decided to throw all of myself into a training program before the 2008 season. When I look back now, I have to wonder what it might have been like if I took that approach from the beginning.”

The pitcher who began his career as an undrafted free agent in an independent league after an underwhelming collegiate career – which was also interrupted in 2002 by elbow reconstruction surgery – blossomed in 2008.

“And I think it had to do with what happened after the 2007 season,” Burke said. “Before then, I'd be strong in the first half and fade in the second half.

“I decided this was going to be make it or break it. I started going to the gym three of every four days. I was lifting like a body builder.”

The results?

“I've always been a control guy,” Burke said of the transformation. “But my stuff got better. Before I started training, I'd top out at 88. Now I've got five more miles an hour and my slider is sharper and crisper.

“I'd never been anything special. Now I've got stuff to work with.”

Although he jumped up a notch to Double-A San Antonio last season, his ERA fell from 5.23 to 2.24. And he found a role as a closer, picking up 23 saves in 59 appearances for the Missions.

Suddenly, Burke was on the Padres' radar. He received an invitation to spring training.

Although he remained with the Padres to the end of spring training, Burke fully expected to open the season with Triple-A Portland. “I understood,” said Burke. “I hadn't done anything.”

He has now.

In 13 relief appearances with Portland, Burke was 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA. When he got the call from the Padres on May 15, Pacific Coast League hitters were batting .148 against Burke.

Burke allowed his first run Wednesday night in one-third of an inning of work. Over his first six appearances as a Padre, Burke had allowed no runs and only one hit with no walks in 5 2/3 innings.

Miscellany

Cliff Floyd is expected to complete his rehab assignment with Single-A Lake Elsinore Thursday and join the Padres Friday in Denver. Padres manager Bud Black said when Floyd is activated “a player with options” will be sent out. The only outfielders meeting that criteria are Chase Headley and Drew Macias.

The fact that Chris Burke was pinch-hit for Tuesday night in the same inning he opened with a homer is not such a rarity after all. It has happened 10 times in the past 20 seasons, including twice earlier by the Padres. Luis Lopez pinch-hit for Bip Roberts on May 31, 1994, after Roberts had homered earlier in the inning. And Rob Nelson pinch-hit for Jack Clark in 1989 after Clark had homered earlier in the inning.

The 10-game winning streak that ended Tuesday tied for the third-longest in Padres history and was the longest since the club-record 14-game winning streak in 1999.